After years of development, Samsung finally has its first Tizen-powered smartphone on the market in the form of the Z1. The company is promising that's just "the tip of the iceberg" though, and "a flood of devices" are on the way in 2015.
Does that make Android the Titanic, about to run aground on Samsung's own OS? Perhaps. Samsung's Mingi Hyun has written a lengthy blog post on the company's plans for Tizen and its advantages over Android.
"Tizen is 'lighter' than other operating systems," says Hyun, explaining that this lightness of touch means it can do more with less processing power and memory - something you can't really say about TouchWiz.
Bring your own OS
Hyun says Tizen will be coming to smart appliances and smart TVs in the near future, and that the company is working hard building out an ecosystem that can connect all of these devices. Samsung wants to get all of its hardware hooked up to the web in the next five years.
Google and Apple can still come to the party, though. "We also remain open to other operating systems," promises Hyun. "We also value the relationships we have built with our partners, as these relationships have helped us discover more ways to improve the user experience of our devices."
Considering Samsung sold 665 million bits of kit in 2014, Tizen could get a foothold in the market very quickly if Samsung decides to go all-in with its own OS. With LG expanding its use of webOS as well, Google is going to have to stay on its toes as all of our devices get smarter.
